Stogie Reviews: Tatuaje Drac

16 Nov 2009

Available at a only a select few stores, Tatuaje built on the success of last year’s “Frank” with two more limited release Halloween cigars in 2009: “Boris” (a Frank “out of costume”—i.e., with a different, less green wrapper) and the Drac.

Drac Drac is a fang-shaped torpedo (6.75 x 52) with a simple red and black band around the foot. Only 1,300 boxes of 13 cigars each were made of the habano maduro-wrapped Nicaraguan puro.

Individual cigars sold for $13 each, if not a few dollars more due to the high demand for the smokes. I was fortunate enough to land a pair of the sought-after sticks from a friend of a friend who had gotten his hands on a box.

In response to some issues with those boxes, Tatuaje maker Pete Johnson put out a special bulletin on the Tatuaje website recommending that people put the cigars in their humidor without the box for a few weeks. It seems that since the coffin-shaped boxes were delayed, they smelled of fresh paint when the cigars were boxed. So Johnson recommended waiting for that odor to dissipate.

I didn’t notice any paint smells from the samples I smoked, which had spent enough time in the humidor before they were smoked. But the Drac did have a distinct aroma of sweet licorice and it left a notable bready flavor on my lips when I drew on the unlit cigar. The dark brown, matte wrapper had a few prominent veins and was slightly spongy to the touch.

The Drac opened up with an interesting combination of raisin and prune flavors mixed with a bit of chalk and subtle mint. It was also peppery on the lips. As the cigar progressed, it became leathery, occasionally to the point of some bitterness. In the final third, dry woody notes were added to the lively flavor profile.

Construction was quite good, with an exceptionally sturdy light gray ash. The torpedo produces plenty of smoke, although at times the deliberate draw bordered on tight.

This is an interesting cigar, with many twists and turns and a very unique and complex combination of flavors. The Tatuaje Drac earns four stogies out of five.